Ford SOS

Looking at a Ford 2000 introduced in 1962. Has Select O Speed. What are some things to look for in the SOS? How reliable are they? How exactly do they work. Tires dry rotted and surface rust on sheet metal but metal appears straight. Hours 2620. Wiring works and still has generator and 6 volts. Any idea on value. Have not seen but heard it run and sounds like missing some but not bad. Any idea of value? Thanks

Best drive it, and check EACH gear position to make sure they all work. I bought a 1964 4000 row crop at auction with new rear tires, non running gas. Took a chance and got it for a grand, thinking it can be parted out if it's really bad. It does run well, but the number three transmission band does not work. Planning on doing the split it needs this winter and see if it can be saved. Most don't bring much, especially if it needs tires.

move on don't waste your time the sos had a lot of trouble there a lot of better tractors out there, just my 2 cents

The story behind these was that Ford released them a tad bit too early, but once all the issues were resolved, it was a very good power shift transmission. I had a '64 4000 S-O-S for many years, that was reliable and operated very nicely. To a new user, they can be a little jerky, and there's more to that, but the one I had was pretty good all the way around, it had a gear for everything you needed to do.

The reputation they had followed them well after the transmission was proven, so you'll still hear to run away from them as fast as you can. Parts are out there, but with some repairs on these you may have to get creative or search awhile. They don't typically command as much money as a 4 speed or 5 speed, and if non running, scrap price applies. If the seller tuned it up and you can run it, this is well worth doing to evaluate it's condition. Odds are if the transmission operates correctly, it may be in decent shape, but there are things to know about these in regards to diagnosing problems, service/adjustments and repairs. If you are up for the challenge, one of these in field ready condition can make a nice general purpose/utility tractor. Independent PTO is a nice feature on these and it likely has power steering too.

You definitely want to run this tractor through all the gears (10 forward, 2 reverse and 9th, 10th are road speed gears)once it's warmed up and at operating temperature, note any gears that do not operate correctly or at all. These are not for a novice to work on, you must have the correct manual and 2 things to remember, don't ever take the transmission top cover off without following instruction from the manual and do NOT ever put the wrong fluid in this transmission. You want the modern equivalent of the specified fluid, CNH has it and there are as-equals that will be ok to use.

We are very fortunate to have some people on this site (ford forum) that can advise on these, the mechanics we had in our ford tractor dealership shop were trained and experienced in these, I remember them well, seeing them work on these, but all are long gone now, taking that knowledge with them.

My memory has faded on these, been a long time since I had the above mentioned tractor and or worked on one, so I refrain from commenting about the technical details of same but sure would have one again for a few reasons.

I have owned a Ford with SOS for 35 years and really love it. It is wonderful for what I do with it. It was a horse in its day but now just does hay making duties. The input shaft is the weakest part of this unit. Slipped splines in the torque limiting clutch disc are common. This isn't hard to repair, but parts are getting harder to find each passing day. I did retro my 6000 last time and replaced the splines with a 1 inch hex. First one I did was 13/16 hex but cracked and hemorrhaged oil after 6-8 years. I found out the shaft is hollow and under oil pressure so 1 inch worked much nicer. Al

Thanks so much Billy.

Thank you.

I had a Ford 6000 with that transmission for awhile and it did good for me.If you need expert advice on those transmissions call Leroy at Page Implement in Luray Virginia.

The tranny is one of the first versions of a power shift, and working ones are actually quite nice.

The trouble is if there is trouble with them, it has 3 clutches in it, 3x the parts, and some parts are no longer supplied. So fixing one can get really expensive really fast.

So you are taking a gamble. When it works it will be a good thing. If it doesn?t work you could have a very expensive problem on your hands.

Sounds like he tractor has enough problems to be in that scrap area of $7-900 as most old wrecks are valued.

Paul

thanks to all for their input. I think I will pass on this one.

RUN FOREST RUN.
Dad bought a new Ford 6000 SOS in early 60's. SOS was Junk.
I'll never buy any Ford with SOS. Sooner or later they will fail. Then what?